Adrian Beltre pushes hamstring, feels more comfortable on it

How about this: On Friday, Beltre and Ian Kinsler hit balls to nearly identical spots in the left-center gap. Beltre wound up at second with a double; Kinsler was thrown out.

Never mind for a minute that Kinsler was gunned down, because manager Ron Washington said, that center fielder Jordan Shafer made a better recovery on Kinsler’s ball than on Beltre’s. The point: When Beltre needed to push his balky left hamstring, he had something to push.

“He accelerated,” Washington said. “You could see it kick in. In the dugout, we’re all joking ‘slow down, slow down,’ because we want him to stay in there. It’s an ongoing process for him on how he feels. He obviously feels better.”

Said Beltre: “It does feel better. I’m feeling more comfortable and I can push it a little more. It might be all the way he healed, but I don’t want to try and find out and hurt it. I’m not going to force it. It will happen when naturally.”